At the Beaufort waterfront, some pirates can still be seen (above) enjoying some
music near the waterfront at the Dockhouse Restaurant and Bar. Meanwhile, pleasure
craft and serious fishing boats are plentiful at the docks. Photos by The Raleigh
Telegram.

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Blackbeard’s Spirit Lives On In North Carolina Town Of Beaufort

By Bryan LeClaire, The Raleigh Telegram

Tuesday, May 31, 2011

RALEIGH - An exhibit opening at the North Carolina Maritime Museum in Beaufort will
showcase the time that the notorious pirate Edward Teach - more popularly known as
Blackbeard -spent in the state.

Blackbeard’s ship, the Queen Anne’s Revenge, ran aground near Beaufort on June 10
1718, leaving behind a wealth of artifacts. In commemoration of that event, the museum
chose this year’s anniversary to open the exhibit.

After his ship ran aground, Blackbeard continued his buccaneering, spending about
six months using the North Carolina coast as his base of operations. Evidence suggests
that he may have done so with the blessing of Governor Charles Eden and Tobias Knight,
secretary of the colony.

Spoils from Blackbeard’s seaway robbery, including highly prized sugar, were discovered
in Knight’s barn, prompting the secretary’s trial for collusion, in which he was
acquitted.

“North Carolina was a backwater area then,” said Dave Moore, curator of nautical
archaeology at the museum. “It was mostly dirt farmers and fisherman. To a certain
extent the locals appreciated some of the goods that pirates were bringing into the
colony.”

Finds from the Queen Anne’s Revenge that will be on display in Beaufort include pieces
of the ship’s hull, ammunition, cannons and trade beads, which slavers would have
used to trade for African slaves.

Although Blackbeard did not traffic in slaves, he had captured the Queen Anne’s Revenge
when it was a French slave ship named La Concorde.

One of the more colorful objects that the museum has to offer is a tapered lead tube
that would have been served as a toilet, allowing waste to fall from the side of
the ship into the sea. The tube was found in the stern of the ship, near the captain’s
quarters.

“It’s the only artifact that we can point to and say that it’s something Blackbeard
may have used,” said Moore.

It is likely that the entire pirate crew would have shared the “head.”

“These pirates were very democratic,” said Moore. “They did things very differently
to get away from the harsh discipline of naval captains.”

Many sailors took to a life of piracy because they deserted posts in various navies
or in the merchant marine or were pressed into service by other pirates. They would
have relished the relative freedom of a pirate’s life, says Moore.

“These pirates voted on everything: where they were heading, what ships they would
go after,” he said. “The only time the captain had full-on, total control was in
the midst of battle. The walls were torn out for communal living. They were trying
to get away from a hierarchy with someone in charge.”

A true asset to the North Carolina coast, the Queen Anne’s Revenge will yield treasure
for years to come.

“The artifacts in the exhibit are just the tip of the iceberg,” said Moore. “We’ve
only excavated half the site. Of that, 50 percent of the material has been recovered.”

Moore estimates that several hundred thousand artifacts are left to be unearthed
and cleaned up for eventual display.